Apparatus for transferring material from a high to a lower level and piling the material.



. A. C. JOHNSTON. APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING MATERIAL FROM A HIGH T0 ALOWER LEVEL AND PILING THE MATERIAL. 'APPLIUATIDN FILED JAN. 29. 1907.

Patented July 12, 1910.

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A. C. JGHNSTUN.

ERIAL FROM A HIGH IYO A LOWER LEVEL AND FILING THE MATERIAL.

@649%390 APPLIUATION FILED JAN.29, 1907. 12

APPARATUS FOR'TRANSFEBRING MAT A. C. JOHNSTON. APPARATUS POETBANSEEERING MATERIAL EEOM A EIGE To A LOWER LEVEL AND FILING TEEMATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 29, 1907.

Patented July 12, 1910.

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.ARTHUR C. JOHNSTON, OF WYNCOTE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO DODGE COALSTORAGE COMPANY, 0F NAUGATUCK, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON-NECTICUT.

APPARATUS FOR TRANSFERRING MATERIAL FROM A HIGH TO A LOWER LEVEL ANDPILING- THE MATERIAL.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C. JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at lVyncote, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvementsin Apparatus for Trans.`

ferring Material from a High to a Lower Level and Piling the Material,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of achute for transferring material from a high to a lower level and isparticularly adapted to the transfer, without material breakage, offrangible materials, such as coal, from a high to a lower level, yeitherin immediate distribution or to form a pile upon a piling floor, or in abin or other receptacle.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1, is a vertical sectional view ofa chute illustrating my invention; Fig. 2, is a section on the line 2 2,Fig. 1; Fig. 3, is a sectional View of a chute arranged to form a pileof y material; Fig. A, is a view looking in the direction of the arrow,Fig. 3; Fig. 5, is a view of a modification of the chute; Figs. 6, 7, 8and 9, are other modifications of the chute; Fig. 10, is a view showingthe chute mounted in a storage bin; Fig. 11, is a view of a spiralchute; Fig. 12, is a sectional view showing a series of chutes arrangedat an incline the same as Fig. 6; with a storage bin; Fig. 13, is asectional View on the line 13-13, Fig. 12; Figs. 14 and 15, are views ofother modifications of my invention; Fig. 1G, is a view showing a flatchute arranged 4to carry vout my invention; and Figs. 17

and 13, are cross sectional views of other forms of chutes.

Referring in the first instance to Figs. 1 and 2, A is an inclined chutearranged at an angle greater than the angle of repose of the material tobe transferred. This chute has side members ca-a and al series oftransverse ribs a extending across the chute 'from one side to theother, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. At the upper end of the chute A,which may be of any desired length, is shown a flight conveyor B, in thepresent instance having flights Z9, which deliver `the .coal or othermaterial to tlie chute and at the base ofthe chute, as shown in Fig. 1,is a conveyer C, having flights c, which travel Specification of LettersPatent.

App1cation filed January 29, 1907.

Patented July 12, 1910.

serial No. 354,638. i

over the trough or bed c on to which the coal rolls from the chute.

It will be understood that other means may be employed to feed thematerial into the chute or to carry the material away from the base ofthe chute, or the material may be allowed to accumulate at the base ofthe chute, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Assuming coal to be the material to be transferred in the operation, thefirst coal which is discharged from the coiiveyer B fiows from theconveyer B into the several pockets formed by the ribs a until thesepockets have been successively filled, as iii- ,dicated in Fig. 1, andit will be noticed that in filling these pockets the coal forms a bedhaving a greater angle than the ordinary angle of repose of thematerial, as the ribs are preferably arranged close together. As thepockets are filled with coal, as shown in Fig. 1 the coal forms a roughbed over which the coal fed to the chute must fiow and as the feed ofthe coal is continued each particle of additional coal will travel downthis roughened surface rolling upon the coal held in the pockets of thechute until it either reaches an unoccupied pocket and is there retainedor until all the pockets have been filled, and it rolls off the chuteinto the conveyor C at the bottom. Thus material breakage of the coal isprevented, since it is subjected to no appreciable vertical drop, but toa simple rolling or sliding action throughout the length of the chuteover a surface sufficiently rough to act as a retarding bed preventingany such acceleration in the speed of the flow of material as would becalculated to cause breakage.

'In the case of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, the coal itself forms therougheiied bed over which the material to be transferred must flow, butit will be understood that this bed may be formed by any other meanswhich will prevent the too rapid rush of coal down the inclined chute orany vertical drop of the coal.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a modification of the chute in which the bed a?is made of stones or other suitable material set in cement, thus forminga permanent roughened bed without the use of transverse ribs, such asshown in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 3 and 4L, I have illustrated my invention arranged to form apile of coal or other material, the apex of the pile, as the latterincreases in height, being shifted toward the point of supply at theupper end of the chute. It will be noticed that in this case the coal asit travels down the inclined chute comes in contact with theaccumulation of coal at the base of the chute. In this case the pilingioor D forms a stop for the flow of coal and as the coal travels downthe inclined chute it comes in contact with the floor or theaccumulation of coal upon the floor at the base of the chute and isthereby caused to escape over the sides of the latter at a point whichis constantly shifting toward the top of the chute. The coal thusescaping from the chute continues to iow down the mass of coalpreviously accumulated until the angle of repose is attained. This formof apparatus is particularly adapted for filling bins with coal orsimilar material and in the case where the depth of the bin or otherreceptacle may make it desirable to use two or more lengths of chute todeliver the coal from the top of the bin to the bottom the chutes may bearranged as in Fig. 10. In this figure the chutes are of theconstruction illustrated in Fig. 1, but are so proportioned that thelower end e of each section is directly above the upper end e of thechute section next below, and in the lower end e of each chute is anopening e2 to allow coal to flow from the upper chute onto theroughenecl surface of the chute directly under it, thus securing acontinuous flow of material from the upper end of the bin D to thebottom thereof or to the apex of the pile formed within the bin.

It will be understood that the chute A may be of any shape, forinstance, it may be made as shown in either Figs. 17 or 18 withoutdeparting from the invention.

In Fig. G, I have shown a modification of my invention, in which thechute is arranged at such an angle that the roughened surface will be atthe angle of repose of the material to be piled and the side walls a3 ofthe chute A are tapered, being level with the body of the chute at thelower end thereof and increasing in height toward the upper end vof thechute, as illustrated in said ligure. I prefer to use cross ribs at inthis form of apparatus similar to those illustrated in Fig. 1, but theseribs are not absolutely necessary.

The coal as it is discharged from the con veyer B at the upper end ofthe chute travels down the latter, accumulating back' of the severaltransverse ribs until there is a body of coal throughout the entirelength of the chute. This body is shallowest at the base of the chute,increasing in depth as it nears the upper or feed end, as illustrated inFig. G. As the coal continues to How down the chute it travels over thecoal retained on the chute, as in the forms of apparatus heretoforedescribed, but in this case the coal will tend to accumlate at the upperend of the chute and then will move gradually in a body, traveling downto the base of the chute, or if a pile is being formed at the base ofthe chute, as shown in Fig. 6, until it reaches the apex of the pilewhen it will flow laterally over the sides of the chute and add to thepile.

As indicated by diagrammatic lines in this figure, as the pile increasesin height the height of the coal in the chute also increasesproportionately.

Fig. 11, shows my invent-ion as applied to a spiral chute. The chute A2is provided with a series of transverse ribs, which form pockets toretain the material so that there is an unbroken roughened surface fromthe top to the bottom of the spiral chute and the flow of material downthis chute will be retarded to such an extent as to prevent materialbreakage.

In Figs. 12 and 18, I have illustrated the chute shown in Fig. G, asapplied to a bin D2, in which two or more chutes are used. In thisinstance the chutes A are wider at the upper end than at the lower endas shown in Fig. 13 so that the material will tlow over the sides of theupper chute into the wide portion of the chute directly below it.

In Fig. 7, I have shown a chute A2 in which the side members a5 arestepped, so that as the pile increases in height the point of lateraldischarge of the material from the chute will rise from one step toanother throughout the length of the chute. In some instances the sidesof the chute may be dispensed with and the body At of the chute may bemade wide enough to allow the body of the coal to be retained in thecenter of the chute and as the pile increases the coal will bedischarged laterally from the chute over this retained body, asillustrated in Fig. 16.

Fig. 8, illustrates a modification of my apparatus; in which thematerial is discharged through openings i in the bottom of the chute A5and these discharge openings are closed by means of suitable slides ordoors 7l which may be withdrawn to allow the coal to pass through theopenings,

or a sliding apron I may be used, as illustrated in Fig. 14. In thisinstance, the inclined chute Ao has a bottom open from one end to theother and the apron is arranged to slide in grooves to close thisopening. The coal is discharged from the chute over the lower end of theapron I, as indicated in said figure.

In Fig. 9,Ihave shown a chute A'r with the -sides f made in sections andthese sections can be dropped or removed one after the other as theheight of the pile increases, so that the coal will be discharged overthe edges of the chute at the apex of the pile.

Thus it will be seen that the essential feature of the invention is theretarding of the material in its downward flow to prevent suchaccelerations of speed of flow as would lead to breakage when theflowing material comes in Contact with the bed of a conveyer or otherreceptacle at the base of the chute, or with an accumulation of thematerial in a formed pile, either on a piling floor or in a bin.

1When the apex of the pile reaches the upper end of the chute the pileis continued, the discharge point of the conveyer B moving forward, thematerial liowing over the pile until the entire bin or floor has beenfilled.

It will be understood that while I have shown in the modifications inFigs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 14, transverse ribs to retain the coal 0rsimilar material to form the roughened retarding surface, in some casesthese ribs may be dispensed with as the floor or side of the bin willform a stop for the material to allow it to accumulate in the chute, ora single cross rib a may be used at the base of the chute A, as shown inFig. 15. When the material reaches the height of the stop, it will flowover the same, having enough material to produce an inclined roughenedbed.

I claim zl. The combination of a liXed chute, arranged at an inclinegreater than the angle of repose of the granular material to betransferred, and having a series of transverse ribs forming a series ofpockets, so that the initial body of material will accumulate in thepockets and form a roughened retarding surface, with means forcontinuing the feeding of material to the chute, said material flowingover the material in the pockets, the latter material retarding thedownward movement of the main body of the material.

2. The combination in a chute having sides and arranged at an anglegreater than the angle of repose of the granular material to he piledand a piling floor upon which the material collects, means for holdingthe initial flow of the material so as to provide a roughened surfaceover which the main body of the material will travel, the roughenedsurface retarding the travel of said material, and as the pile on thepiling floor in creases in height, the material will flow over the sidesof the chute onto the pile without dropping and without materialbreakage.

3. A chute for transferring material from a high to a lower level, saidchute being arranged at an angle greater than the angle of repose of thematerial to be transferred and having side members and transverse ribs,said transverse ribs being arranged close together and of such a heightthat the granular material flowing over the chute will accumulate in thepockets formed by the ribs and form a practically continuous roughenedsurface, with means for feeding the material over said roughenedsurface, causing itto flow by gravity alone without material breakage.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specieation, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR C. JOHNSTON.

Witnesses:

E. It. LOUGHERY, WM. A. BARR.

